Safe processing matters more than zesty flavours, Pg8

Key Highlights:

• Food adulteration cases in India have increased, causing consumers to be more cautious about their food choices.
• Raids in Chennai in July 2024 revealed that pani puri stalls were using contaminated water.
• The FSSAI regulates food safety for both packaged and unpackaged foods.
• India records approximately 100 million cases of food-borne illnesses annually, leading to about 1,20,000 deaths.
• The Eat Right India movement and the Clean Street Food Hub (CSFH) aim to ensure street foods are safe and hygienic.

Detailed Insights:

• The packaged food industry in India operates under a structured system of food production with clearer oversight and stricter enforcement of traceability, transparency, and reliability standards.
• Modern processing techniques like pasteurisation, vacuum sealing, and aseptic packaging are used in the packaged food industry to reduce microbial risks and retain flavour and nutritional value.
• Packaged foods offer transparency through listing allergens, ingredients, and manufacturing/expiry dates, enabling consumers to make informed dietary decisions.
• Street food, while culturally significant and supporting livelihoods, poses systemic risks due to hygiene standards, incorrect cooking practices like reuse of cooking oil, and use of adulterated ingredients.
• The FSSAI, in collaboration with organizations like the BMC, has introduced training programs for street food vendors to improve hygiene and safety standards, but the unorganized nature of the sector makes enforcement challenging.
• Ensuring access to safe and hygienic food is a priority, and the future of food in India should be shaped by a commitment to safety, balancing tradition with public health.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Food Adulteration: The act of intentionally debasing the quality of food offered for sale either by the admixture or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient.
• Food-borne illnesses: Diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food.
• FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India): An autonomous statutory body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India that regulates and monitors the food industry.